


You Gotta Die For Something Beautiful

by OnyxFang99



Category: Corpse Bride (2005), Palaye Royale (Band)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Corpse Bride (2005) Fusion, Arranged Marriage, Corpses, Crossover, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), M/M, No Smut, Spoilers for Corpse Bride
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 17:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19816852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnyxFang99/pseuds/OnyxFang99
Summary: Daniel Curcio is a closeted gay in the 19th century in an arranged marriage to a woman he doesn't know. He ends up marrying the Corpse Groom instead.-tldr: Gay corpse bride with an alternate ending.





	You Gotta Die For Something Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> I should really stop starting new fics. I have so many WIPs.

“Why must I do this mother?” Daniel frowns at his mother adjusting his tie.

“Because the Love family has good status and connections,” his mother speaks matter of factly as if this should’ve been obvious.

“You’ve certainly hooked a winner, Daniel,” his father grins as his mother finishes his sentence.

“...now all you have to do is reel her in.”

“I’m already reeling, mother,” he can’t meet her eyes as the carriage comes to a stop.

“Just don’t embarrass us,” she spits back at him, her voice uncharacteristically cruel.

There’s the sound of coughing outside, “Luis, silence!” His mother yells as she exits the carriage. 

Daniel gulps as they ring the doorbell and his mother pats down invisible dust from his suit. He wants the ground to swallow him whole. He’s sure that Miss Larisa Love is a lovely woman but he’s not interested in her. He hasn’t even met the woman let alone would ever be attracted to her. Not in any way that matters at least.

He is too caught up in his thoughts to pay attention as his parents greet the Love’s and drag him inside towards his doom awaiting beyond a plain and dark front hall.

His eyes spot a piano and he allows himself to linger behind, waiting until a door slams shut before sitting down before the instrument.

His hands ghost over the key, tapping a few. The young man pauses for a moment. He breathes in and out and…

...begins. 

The tune flows through him, as if he’s not playing the piano, instead the piano is playing him. He feels himself floating. His feet leaving the floor. The seat no longer beneath him. All he can see is the comforting void as his fingers tap on the keys. He feels as if he let go he would fly towards the ceiling and beyond. 

“Ahem,” a woman coughs behind him, pulling him out of his trance and back to the ground. He spins in his seat to see a brunette woman in a beautiful dark dress, her hair done up in a neat bun upon her head. Miss Larisa Love.

He rushes to stand up, knocking the piano stool over.

“Ahh, I apologise, Miss Love,” he shakes with nervousness.

  
“Oh please don’t call me that,” Miss Love smiles awkwardly, “Larisa is fine.”

“Well then…” Daniel pauses for a moment as an awkward silence settles between them. He picks up the stool, the legs screeching against the floor and through the tense atmosphere. “Well, I apologise, Larisa.”

“There’s no need to apologise, it was rather beautiful,” Larisa waves off his apology, “I always wanted to learn piano,” she stares at the instrument longingly.

“Maybe I could-” Daniel is interrupted by the violent heel clicks as Larisa’s mother storms down the hallway.

“You two!” She yells, venom on her tongue, “you’re late!”   
  


“I apologise, mother,” Larisa curls in on herself, her eyes trying to burn holes in the floorboards.

“You should be,” Lady Love growls, “now come.”

The pair follow her towards the carriage, pointedly not looking at each other.

Daniel’s heart sinks.

-

The rehearsal is a mess. His hands are sweating the whole time. He stutters through his vows, unable to finish them as his parents shoot him dirty looks and Larisa looks at him with those sad, defeated eyes.

He very quickly excused himself and ran into the woods - not wanting to stick around and receive scorn from the parents of the bride, anger from his parents, and sadness from Miss Love herself. Leading him to now.

Daniel groans into his hands as he rests on a log. How is he supposed to complete his vows when he knows he will never fulfil them? When he knows that saying those words will condemn him to a loveless marriage and a life of hiding his true nature.

Maybe he should just run away. Move to another town, change his name, start over. He finds it tempting but he has no idea how to go through with it, besides even if he did who can say that they would accept him?

Practice. He should practice. Even if they aren’t perfect he can make them better. He can be better. She deserves that.

He hesitantly stands. Pulling the ring from his pocket, he starts.

“With this hand, I will lift your sorrows.”

He steps forward, the moonlight shimmering across his face.

“Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine.”

His voice loses it’s tremble as he speaks with a newly renewed confidence in the quiet calm of the forest. He snaps a twig off a fallen tree and touches the end against another twig.

“With this candle, I will light your way in darkness.”

He spots a tree branch that looks uncannily like a finger.

“With this ring, I ask you to be mine.”

He places the ring on the  finger branch.

Nothing happens.

…

He turns to see a flock of crows perched on the surrounding trees, peering down at him.

Something grabs his wrist and he screams.

Daniel turns to find a skeletal hand gripping his wrist and instead of sitting innocently on a branch, the wedding ring fits perfectly on a boney finger.

Desperately trying to pry his hand from the surprisingly strong grip sends him flying back as the skeletons forearm becomes dislodged from the ground. He finds it tightening around his wrist, forcing him to shake his arm free.

Staring down at the dismembered arm for a moment, Daniel is quickly broken out of his stupor by a loud pounding from under the surface.

He tentatively steps back, his feet slipping slightly on freshly fallen snow. A hand emerges, embedding itself in the icy soil. It has a slight blue tinge.

He continues to inch backwards as a full figure gracefully rises from the earth. A gasp makes it’s way out of his mouth as he stops in his tracks. The corpse standing across from him is a mix of terrifying and beautiful.

His eyes are somehow simultaneously dead but full of life, his brown hair styled carefully into a mop-top. The only give away of his true nature is the ratty state of his dirt-covered jade overcoat, paired with similarly filthy slacks, button-down, and shoes. Not counting the large rip in his shirt displaying part of his uncovered ribcage, his missing arms, and oh yeah the fact that he just emerged from underground.

“I do,” the corpse whispers.

Daniel panics for real.

-

To say that his journey back to the bridge was hellish would be an understatement.

Firstly - he ended up rolling down a hill, his head colliding with a gravestone. (He heard the corpse pick up and reattach his arm at this point.)

Secondly - he smacked face-first into a tree - twice! - causing him to see double and freaking out so much at seeing two blurry figures swimming in his vision he hit his head again.

Thirdly - he got stuck slipping and sliding on the ice patch covering the river with the corpse quickly gaining ground on him.

And lastly - tearing his suit while running too close to some branches and getting momentarily trapped in them.

All of this without mentioning the fact that he was being swooped at by crows the whole time.

But now he is finally at the bridge. With no sign of the corpse, he allows himself to relax and sigh in relief. He steps back only to bump into something.

He spins around in a frenzy and is face to face with the corpse. He stumbles back into the rail as the man advances.

“Hello, my dear…”

Their lips meet and Daniel faints.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you guys think?


End file.
